The present invention pertains broadly to an agricultural baler for forming cylindrical bales out of cut crop material. Such a baler is commonly referred to as a xe2x80x9cround baler.xe2x80x9d More particularly, the invention is directed to an improved pickup apparatus or assembly that includes two modules, a pickup mechanism module and a stuffer mechanism module or a rotor mechanism module.
Typical round balers (also referred to simply as a xe2x80x9cbalerxe2x80x9d), such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,450 to Naaktgeboren et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, are agricultural machines that pick up a cut crop material from the ground and form it into a compacted round bale in a bale forming chamber. When the bale has been sufficiently compacted to a desired density (i.e., a variable chamber baler) or a desired size (i.e., a fixed chamber baler) depending on the baler construction, bale density sensors or bale size sensors, as is appropriate, send signals to a controller that subsequently sends a signal to an operator""s panel to stop forward motion of the baler so that a bale wrapping operation can be performed. The formed bale is subsequently wrapped with netting or twine to produce a completed wrapped bale that is expelled to the ground through an open tailgate mechanism.
During field operation, the process of picking up cut crop material and transferring it to the bale forming chamber is conventionally performed by a pickup apparatus. One such pickup apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,055 to Horchler, Jr. et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Horchler, Jr. discloses that the pickup apparatus includes a pickup, two augers and a stuffer mechanism mounted on a single frame. The pickup includes a plurality of fingers or tines movable along a predetermined path to lift cut crop material from the ground and deliver it along a feed table towards a floor roll. The floor roll is rotatably mounted to the main frame of the baler and rotates to move cut crop material towards the bale forming chamber. The floor roll and a starter roll are both rotatably mounted to the main frame and define a transverse feed opening, also referred to as the xe2x80x9cthroat,xe2x80x9d through which the cut crop material must pass to enter into the bale forming chamber.
The pickup apparatus includes right and left opposing augers positioned downstream of the pickup because the pickup is much wider than the feed table. The right and left augers serve to direct cut crop material towards the feed table that is positioned along the central axis of the pickup apparatus. The stuffer is a mechanism for conveying cut crop material from the pickup to the bale forming chamber. More specifically, the stuffer has an array of side fingers mounted on a drive assembly so that each side finger is moved along an elliptical path. When the cut crop material reaches the feed table and engages the array of moving side fingers, the array feeds the cut crop material rearward into the bale forming chamber through the throat. Once through the throat, the cut crop material enters the bale forming chamber and is formed into a bale by one of the conventionally known methods.
Another type of pickup apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,050 to Vande Ryse et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Vande Ryse et al. discloses a pickup apparatus that includes a pickup and a rotatable conveyor, also referred to as a rotor, that comprises a plurality of blades that rotate and engage cut crop material. The pickup is similar to the pickup disclosed by the Horchler, Jr. Patent and is mounted on a single frame with the rotor. The pickup includes a plurality of fingers or tines movable along a predetermined path to lift cut crop material from the ground and deliver it along a feed table towards a floor roll. The floor roll is rotatably mounted to the main frame of the baler and rotates to move cut crop material towards the bale forming chamber. The floor roll and a starter roll are both rotatably mounted to the main frame and define a transverse feed opening, also referred to as the xe2x80x9cthroat,xe2x80x9d through which the cut crop material must pass to enter into the bale forming chamber.
The rotor is a mechanism for conveying cut crop material from the pickup to the bale forming chamber, but the rotor is different than a stuffer. More specifically, the rotor has an array of radially disposed blades mounted on a drive assembly so that each blade rotates about the axis of a drive shaft. When the cut crop material reaches the feed table and engages the array of radially disposed blades, the array feeds the cut crop material rearward into the bale forming chamber through the throat. Once through the throat, the cut crop material enters the bale forming chamber and is formed into a bale by one of the conventionally known methods.
Stuffer and rotor mechanisms have their advantages and disadvantages. More particularly, stuffers are less expensive to manufacture but they are less efficient at conveying cut crop material from the pickup to the bale forming chamber. Rotors are more expensive, but they are more efficient at conveying cut crop material from the pickup to the bale forming chamber. Furthermore, the blades of the rotor can be made with a cutting edge so that the rotor breaks down the cut crop material into smaller pieces while conveying the cut crop material to the bale forming chamber. This process of breaking the cut crop material down into smaller pieces before forming the bale is beneficial to farm animals that eating the cut crop material, making it easier to chew. Therefore, balers made with stuffers may be less expensive, but they are less efficient than balers manufactured to utilize a rotor. Balers manufactured with rotors are more expensive, but they are more efficient and can be used to break down the cut crop material into smaller pieces which facilitates consumption of the cut crop material by farm animals.
The drawback to having alternate types of pickup apparatuses available, those having a conveying stuffer and those having a conveying rotor, is related to limitations of assembly line manufacturing and product diversity. More specifically, balers manufactured with a pickup apparatus typically utilize similar pickup and auger mechanisms but differ with regard to which conveying mechanism is used, either the stuffer or the rotor conveying mechanisms. At present, the frames used to support the pickup apparatus mount the pickup and the stuffer together, or the pickup and the rotor together. It would be more efficient if the frame included a modular construction with a modular frame portion for mounting the pickup and the augers together to form a first module, and the conveying mechanism would be mounted to another distinct frame portion that is universally configured to permit an interchangeable selectivity of conveying mechanism during baler assembly. In other words, it would be beneficial to have a universal frame portion configured so that a baler manufacturer is able to selectively assemble the baler to have a stuffer, or in the alternative, to selectively assembly the baler to have a rotor, as the conveying mechanism without having to use completely different frames assembled on completely different assembly lines.
The present invention endeavors to provide an improved pickup assembly or apparatus that includes a pickup module providing a pickup and an auger assembly mounted to a unitary first frame assembly, and a conveying module selected from the group consisting of a stuffer module and a rotor module, wherein the conveying module includes a conveying mechanism mounted to a second frame assembly and the second frame assembly is connected to the first frame assembly thereby maintaining the advantages of the prior art pickup apparatuses while simplifying the manufacturing complexity and increasing product diversity.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to overcome the manufacturing complexity of the prior art balers.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pickup assembly or apparatus that utilizes the same pickup and auger mechanisms while permitting the selective assembly of the baler to include either a stuffer module or a rotor module as the conveying mechanism.
Another object of the present invention is to decrease manufacturing costs by providing a simplified assembly process due to the selective interchangeability of the stuffer and rotor modules during baler manufacturing.
A further object of the present invention is to provide the first frame assembly with a core frame having a universal conveying module attachment portion and two drive shaft through holes so that either a stuffer conveying module or a rotor conveying module can be assembled with a pickup module while utilizing a minimum number of different parts and optimizing the number of shared parts.
In accordance with the above objectives, a first embodiment of the present invention provides a baler having a frame assembly, comprising: (a) a first frame assembly, including (i) a core frame having a first end member and a second end member attached to a central frame member, wherein the second end member has two through holes formed therein, and (ii) a hole closure plate disposed on the second end member so as to leave one of the two through holes at least partially uncovered, and to completely cover the other of the two through holes; (b) a pickup assembly comprising a pickup and a auger assembly integrally mounted on the first frame assembly to form a pickup module; (c) a second frame assembly connected to the first frame assembly; and (d) a conveyor module selected from the group consisting of a stuffer module and a rotor module, wherein each conveyor module comprises a conveyor mounted on the second frame assembly.
In accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, the conveyor module is the stuffer module, and the stuffer module comprises a stuffer mounted on the second frame assembly, wherein the second frame assembly is a stuffer frame assembly.
In accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention, the second embodiment is further modified so that the stuffer includes a drive shaft and the first frame assembly comprises: a core frame having a first end member and a second end member attached to a central frame member, wherein the second end member has two through holes formed therein; and the drive shaft of the stuffer extends through one of the two through holes.
In accordance with a fourth embodiment, the conveyor module is the rotor module, and the rotor module comprises a rotor mounted on the second frame assembly, wherein the second frame assembly is a rotor frame assembly.
In accordance with a fifth embodiment, the rotor includes a drive shaft and the first frame assembly comprises: a core frame having a first end member and a second end member attached to a central frame member, wherein the second end member has two through holes formed therein; and the drive shaft of the rotor extends through one of the two through holes.
In accordance with an sixth embodiment, the fifth embodiment is further modified so that the first frame assembly further comprises: a hole closure plate disposed on the second end member so as to partially cover the one of the two through holes through which the drive shaft extends and to completely cover the remaining one of the two through holes.
In accordance with a seventh embodiment, the first frame assembly comprises: a core frame having a first end member and a second end member attached to a central frame member, wherein the second end member has first and second through holes formed therein and the core frame has a modular attachment portion configured to connect to the second frame assembly; wherein the second frame assembly of the stuffer module is a stuffer frame assembly and the second frame assembly of the rotor module is a rotor frame assembly that is different from the stuffer frame assembly.